Researchers in the US have identified a compound that could interrupt the chain of events that cause damage to the retina in diabetic retinopathy.
The finding is significant because it could lead to a novel therapy that targets two mechanisms at the root of the disease: inflammation and the weakening of the blood barrier that protects the retina.
In diabetic retinopathy, damage to the retina results, in part, from the activity of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a protein that weakens the protective blood-retinal barrier. Recent drugs targeting VEGF have exhibited good response for nearly half of the patients with diabetic retinopathy. But researchers believe that there is also an inflammatory component that may contribute to the disease process.
The researchers were able to identify a specific protein common to both pathways as an important target in regulating the disease process in which blood vessels become leaky. This provides hope that a drug may be developed into a therapeutic intervention for patients for whom anti-VEGF treatment alone is not sufficient.
The study was conducted at the University of Michigan and is published in the Biochemical Journal.
